Reasons for introducing cow's milk at age 1?

[Mariposa40]

Hi,I'm not sure whether this question belongs here or on a breastfeeding forum, but I'll try here. 

My DS just turned one.  I work, and he is in daycare two half afternoons/week.  Now that he is in the pre-toddlers room, the daycare would like him to drink cow's milk and to use a sippy cup.  They are, somewhat reluctantly, giving him bottle of breastmilk that I express for him now, but he is the only child in that room using a bottle, and I'm not sure how long they will be willing to do that.  (He's also the only child there who is using cloth diapers,and the only child who isn't vaccinated -- I'm *that* mom.)

My doctor says that it is safe to introduce cow's milk at 1 year, and I was set to do that when DH asked, "but what are the benefits of giving him cow's milk?  Is there anything he can get from cow's milk that he can't get from your milk?"  Well, I don't know, but my guess would be probably not. 

So, I have a few questions:

1.  Is there any health benefit to introduce cow's milk if I am still planning to breastfeed?

2. the sippy cup/ bottle is part of the issue.  DS will take a sippy cup of water, or, when he had a cold and I was trying to push fluids, diluted apple juice, or, when he is teething, diluted chamomile tea -- but he just takes the occasional drink -- he doesn't finish the cup the way he will a bottle of breastmilk.  So, I'm loathe to put his breastmilk in a cup since a lot of it might end up going to waste.  Has anyone fed expressed breastmilk in a sippy cup? At some point I do need to transition him to a cup of some sort.

3. this is not an urgent issue yet, but, I want to get pregnant again at some point.  I am 41, so I don't have tons of time to wait.  DS is 1 year (or almost 13 months, actually), and my cycle hasn't returned.  I don't want to stop breastfeeding DS, but I don't want to miss out on having another child, either. 

I'm sort of thinking that maybe sending a cup of organic, whole cow's milk with him a couple of days/week would potentially solve many problems.  Daycare would be happy. (Obviously that's far from my top priority, but it does make my life easier if I don't have to deal with disgruntled daycare workers).  He'd learn to drink from a cup.  Maybe that would be enough to get my cycle back without having to actually wean.  But, is that healthy for DS? 

Just to give all the info: DS is a healthy, chunky little guy.  He's about 23 lbs and 29 or 30 inches tall.  He just had his first cold a few days after his first birthday.  Other than teething pain he has been a happy/healthy boy.  He takes solid foods pretty well, and he has nursed well from the start.  I'm also healthy and liking the fact that the breastfeeding is really starting to take the baby weight off now.  In fact, I now weigh about 12 lbs less than I did when I got pregnant (which means I'm at a healthy weight since I was a little over when I got pregnant). 

I'd appreciate any advice. 

[ammiga]

My dd is 3 and still has never had cow's milk. She nursed until she was just over 2. I see no benefit to cow's milk over breastmilk, and if you are happy pumping and giving your son your milk, that is definitely the healthiest milk for him.

Have you tried a cup with a straw? My dd only took a few tries, then loved straw cups. I think kids who nurse have an easier time sucking on straws and understand that method of drinking.

I would give your cycle a bit more time to return. I think the average time for nursing mamas is 15 months. I got pregnant while still nursing :)

[Oliver'sMom]

I think the main reason why people introduce cow's milk at 1yo is cost.  Since most babies in the US are primarily formula fed as infants, switching over to cow's milk as soon as possible saves a lot of money.  I really don't think there is any health benefit to doing so at all.

My first son was mostly formula fed and I kept him on formula until he was 2 years old.  I figured that had I been able to breastfeed him, I would have done so until at least 2, so I wanted to give him the next best thing.  After 2, I introduced him to goat's milk, since it's supposedly the closest to human milk.  Have you tried giving your son goat's milk?  Maybe that would be a good alternative if you no longer want to pump bottles for him.

With my new son, I plan to continue breastfeeding him until he is at least 2, and I don't plan on giving him any milk but my own until after 2 years.  If I was in your situation though, I would probably be comfortable with leaving a couple of sippy cups of goat's milk with him at daycare if I knew he would drink it.

Another option would be to maybe leave extra high caloric solids for him and just let him drink water from his sippy.  I don't think milk is super necessary for the time frame you mentioned if your son is good at eating solids.

HTH!